Hoop-skirt



(No Model.)

L. H. LOOMER.

HOOP SKIRT.

No. 300,878. Patent-ed June 24, 18.84.

U ITED STATES PATENT Urrrcn.

L. HARVEY LOOMER, OF BIRMINGHAM, CONNECTICUT.

- HOOP-SKIRT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 300,878, dated June 24, 1884.

Application filed September 3, 1883.

(No model.)

3"0 (0Z6 whom it may concern:

. Be it known that I, L. HARVEY LOOMER, of Birmingham, in the State of Connecticut, have invented an Improvement in Hoop-Skirts, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to render the bustle more reliable in supporting the back of the dress, to dispense with unnecessary hoops around the middle portions of the dress, to allow the bustle to yield freely when the person is seated, and to prevent the hoops from rising at the knees when sitting down.

In the drawing Ihave represented by aside view my improved skirt.

The Waistband a, vertical tapes Z) 0 d, and lower ranges of hoops, e e, are of ordinary character. The hoops 75 extend around at the back portion of the skirt and form the bustle, the ends of such hoops being held at the tapes b by suitable laps and clasps, and the tapes and hoops being secured by clasps of sheet metal inserted at the intersections, as usual.

Below the bottom hoop, k, of the bustle I apply a lap or binder, Z, between the central tape, d, at the back and the tapes 0 c at-the sides thereof, such lap or binder being adapted to receive and secure the upper ends of the inclined range of hoops a at. These hoops a pass diagonally and the lower hoop coincidesto or is a prolongation of the'upper hoop in the range of hoops c, and these hoops a are clasped to the tapes]; 0. It willnowbe seen that these diagonal hoops 71 form braces to hold up the lower part of the bustle when a person is walking, and hence the dress is more fully supported by the bustle. This results from the weight of the clothing hanging against the front part of the skirt and keeping it back; but when the wearer sits down the diagonal hoops n are free to slide forward and downward and allow the lower part of the bustle to move by the weight of clothing nearer to the person, and hence occupy less room upon the chair or seat, and the hoops n, being diagonal, prevent the front of the skirt rising. Usually there will be a web of fabric, t, extending across from the tape 0 on one side to the similar tape on the other side and beneath the bustle, there being a lacing in the middle of the web running vertically, so as to shorten or lengthen the web and project the bustle or allow it to sit more closely to the person, as now usual in bnstles.

I claim as my in ven'tion The combination, with the waistband, vertical tapes, and lower ranges of hoops, e e, of the bustle-hoops 7c, the lap or hinder Z, and the diagonal hoops n, the upper ends of Which are secured in the binder Z at the base of the bustle, for the purposes and substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 31st day of August, A. D. 1883.

L. HARVEY LOOMER.

IVitnesses:

CHAS. E. CLARK, WM. S. BROWNE. 

